The usual order was restored in the second free practice with Jenson Button fastest, Nico Rosberg 2 hundreds behind in second and Rubens Barrichello 3rd. The times of Button and Rosberg are about 7 tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s pole position last year …

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver out there in the first practice, with Button and Barrichello behind him. Ferrari cars seemed to be struggling a lot with their tyres during the first session. The temperatures in Shanghai were rather cool during the first session, about 18 degrees ambient and 33 degrees track. It was all sunny though.

Chinese GP Practice 1 times:

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Ron Dennis ends his involvement with McLaren's F1 operation

At a press conference held this morning at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, McLaren Group Chairman Ron Dennis announced a major restructuring of the McLaren Group. McLaren has for more than two years been engaged in a programme to develop a range of pure McLaren sports cars that will build on the great successes of the McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. As part of this plan, it is intended that McLaren Automotive, currently one of a number of companies within the McLaren Group, will become an independent company later this year. The launch date for the first model in the new range of McLaren sports cars will be in 2011.

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Williams version of the rear diffuser

Yesteraday Cruz Gonzales suggested in his comment a post on the technical requirements of every team for the implementation of the super diffusers. Unfortunately that sort of technical post would require some serious insider technical information from seven F1 garages but here is at least a brief summary on the current rear diffuser situation of all the teams as compiled from the news reports and team statements:

Brawn, Toyota, Williams

These three as we all know have their double decker diffusers .

Renault

Renault representative Andrew Ford confirmed that his team has its own prototype version, which could be ready to run as soon as China should the case be called in favour of the ‘diffuser gang’. The diffuser gang won the case now, so we may see new diffuser at the back of R29 this weekend.

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Here is the round 3 of 2009 Prediction Game – Chinese GP. We had some impressive scores in round 2 despite the fact that the race was wet (and short). If you haven’t seen the results of round 2 yet click here. If your current point tally seems to be too low, don’t panic. Only best 16 out 17 results for each player will count at the end of the season ! But let’s move to the round 3 now.

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Button and Barrichello on 2004 Chinese GP podium

This week F1 circus moves to Shanghai for the 6th Chinese F1 GP. This will be the first time the Shanghai race is happening at the beginning of the F1 season instead of the usual end of season October date.

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This is the statement published by FIA short while ago:

The FIA International Court of Appeal has decided to deny the appeals submitted against decisions numbered 16 to 24 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 March at the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations.

Full reasons for this decision will be provided in due course.

So, the results of Australian and Malaysian GPs stand, Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams can go on reaping the rewards of their interpretation of 2009 rules and we can focus on racing for a while, at least till the next “McLaren” WMSC hearing on April 29 …

It will be interesting to see how much time will it take before another team races with the double decker diffuser. Who will be the next ?

I visited all the Chinese GPs between 2004 and 2007 and all of them produced some interesting moments. Here is the selection (including the 2008 Chinese GP that I skipped):

2004

Jacques Villeneueve returned to F1 with Renault in Shanghai 2004

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Last night a story appeared at Autosport.com – FIA requests BBC’s Whitmarsh tapes. Still in Melbourne Martin Whitmarsh had something to say about the Hamilton/Trulli incident to BBC TV and radio reporters. And that something somehow does not seem to mix well with his later statements regarding Dave Ryan’s actions. This part of the Autosport story it caught my eye:

The FIA has been alerted to the presence of these interviews and wants the BBC to supply any evidence that it believes will be helpful to its investigation.

I am not sure how exactly has FIA been alerted to the presence of these interviews. But first time I read anything about this was over at doctorvee’s blog and later at James Allen’s blog when he elaborated on doctorvee’s comment below one his earlier posts.

It is nice to think that observations of F1 blogger may have made it all the way to the top … And even if the alert came from some other source, still, good job doctorvee for picking that up probably before anybody else did !

Back in September 2008 ESPN Star Sports revealed their new 5 year F1 broadcasting contract for 24 Asian markets. The good news is that we continue to have F1 coverage in this part of the world. I hoped (or it was my wishful thinking) that there will also be something in their new contract that will force them to raise their game. But after watching their Malaysian GP coverage all my hopes were dashed.

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It is Monday again, it is also the week of Chinese Grand Prix. So here is the new quiz with all questions are related to Chinese GP.

All the answers will be revealed after you complete all 10 questions. As usual please no googling for answers . And do not forget to share your result in comments ! If you missed the past quizzes you can try them too – click here.

How many times did the Chinese GP winner go on to win the F1 drivers title in the same season ?

1
2
3
4

What is Yu Zhifei, the man who brought the F1 to Shanghai, doing today ?

Works as Shanghai mayor
Sits in jail
Holds a senior post in Chinese central government
Retired to his villa on Hainan Island

The first Chinese Grand Prix was held in Shanghai in October 2004. However the Chinese Grand Prix was to be held several year earlier, it was even added to a provisional F1 calendar. For what year ?

1997
1998
1999
2000

Now an easy one. When was this photo featuring current Brawn GP drivers on Shanghai podium taken ?

2004
2005
2006
2007

In 2005 Michael Schumacher had to start from pit lane after colliding with another driver during the installation lap. Who was the driver ?

Christijan Albers
Narain Karthikeyan
Robert Doornbos
Takuma Sato

What was not the cause of safety car during 2005 Chinese GP ?

Narain Karthikeyan
The manhole cover
Rain
A crashed car in Turn 13 leaving debris all over the place

Before Monza 2008, the best ever result for Toro Rosso was Shanghai 2007 with both cars in points. How many points did Vettel and Liuzzi score ?

5
6
8
9

How many drivers have fastest lap in Shanghai GP to their names ?

2
3
4
5

How many drivers won the Chinese GP after starting from the pole position ?

1
2
3
4

How many different teams made it to the podium in Shanghai ?

4
5
6
7

The Chinese GP is now only a week away. Here is a short video preview that also includes brief look back at the rainy Malaysian GP action, few photos showing the different side of the Shanghai International Circuit as well as the usual animated track intro:

Charlie Whiting spoke to Autosport’s Adam Cooper and revealed his version of the Australian GP Hamilton and Ryan vs Stewards story. The article is available now at Autosport.com (requires subscription). There is also free article available at Autosport.com covering some part of Charlie Whiting’s story – click here.

The article explains why replying McLaren was not the top priority for the race control during the safety car period, brings more on what was said at meeting with stewards. It then goes on talking about what lead to the decision to reopen the case and of course covers also the events in Sepang.

It is one long article but definitely one worth reading…